1.1.3 Family and Friends Care Policy

Introduction
Key Objectives
Principles
Categories of Family and Friends Care
Residence, Special Guardianship and Adoption Orders
Financial Support
Practical Support
Supporting Contact with Parents
Complaints Procedure

Annex A: Caring for Somebody Else's Child - Options

Annex B: Research Evidence and Children's Views

Annex C: National and Local Support Contacts

Annex D: Dates of Kinship Support Meetings

1. Introduction

It is an underlying principle that children should where possible live within their families unless this is not consistent with their welfare. In most cases, this will mean with their parent(s) with, where necessary, support from the local authority.

Friends and Family Care (previously known as "Kinship Care") is regarded as the preferred option when parents are not able or willing to care for their children themselves. In these cases, children may be brought up on a temporary or permanent basis under various arrangements by members of their extended families or friends, e.g. through Residence Orders, by their grandparents or close relative. An estimated 300,000 children in the UK are cared for in this way.

Arrangements can range from "informal", where local authorities are not involved (the majority), to cases where a child is removed from their parents, either voluntarily or through a Care Order, and becomes Looked After.

Where the child does not become Looked After, these arrangements can only apply to carers who fall within the definition of the term "relative" (see Section 4a, Informal arrangements with a relative) or where the arrangements last for under 28 days or where they come within the remit of a Private Fostering arrangement (see Section 4c, Private Fostering).

In cases where the child has to become Looked After, other people who are closely connected with them, such as childminders, teachers or youth workers can also be regarded as "Connected Persons" (see Section 4e, Children in Friends and Family Care who become Looked After and Section 4f, Family and Friends Foster Carers)

This policy sets out Oxfordshire's approach towards promoting and supporting the needs of such children and links to the required assessments which will be carried out to determine the services required and how such services will then be provided.

In drawing up this policy, we are grateful for the contributions of children, young people, family and friends' carers and parents, through consultations, participation in research studies and feedback from complaints and compliments. A summary of the findings from one of these research studies may be found at Annex B: Research Evidence and Children's Views.

The manager with overall responsibility for this policy is the Corporate Parenting Manager.

This policy will be regularly reviewed, and made freely and widely available.

2. Key Objectives

To ensure children's wishes and feelings are taken into account in all relevant processes when adults are trying to solve problems and make decisions about them;
To make strenuous efforts to identify potential carers from within the child's Family and Friends network who are able and willing to care for the child;
To provide support for any such arrangements based on the assessed needs of the child, not simply on their legal status;
To ensure, where possible, that children do not become Looked After, or do not have to remain Looked After, longer than is needed;
To promote permanence for children.

3. Principles

When a child cannot remain or return home, the preferred option is for them to live within their extended family without a legal order, preserving the "No Order" principle inherent in the 1989 Children Act;
Not all Family and Friend care arrangements need our support to set up. A thorough assessment of the child and carers will need to be undertaken to determine eligibility;
Children in Family and Friends placements will only be defined as Looked After in exceptional circumstances, and where possible, as a temporary measure until permanence can be achieved;
There should be an emphasis on empowering families in decision-making for their children (e.g. through Family Group Conferencing).

Family Group Conferencing

Family Group Conferences (FGCs) are meetings held between professionals and family members, which aim to achieve the best outcomes for children. They are organized and facilitated by independent co-ordinators. They promote the involvement of the wider family to achieve a resolution of difficulties for Children in Need*, and may help to identify short-term and/or permanent solutions for children within the family network.

We are committed to involving wider family in decisions that affect their children and will offer a Family Group Conference at an early stage. However, where a FGC has not been held for a child who is likely to be the subject of care proceedings, a referral to the Family Group Conference service should be made. An independent worker will visit the family to explain the FGC process and offer them an opportunity to come together to make a safe plan. If the family do not wish to proceed at this stage, the referral will be returned to the social worker. If a child becomes Looked After, perhaps following an emergency, without a Family Group Conference having been held, then a referral to the Family Group Conference Service should be made as soon as possible

The process is set out in the Family Group Conferences Procedure.

*Children In Need" A Child in Need is defined in section 17 of the Children Act 1989 as a child who is disabled or who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by the local authority

4. Categories of Family and Friends Care

See Annex A: Caring for Somebody Else's Child - Options

Informal arrangements with a relative

These arrangements are made without the involvement of the local authority. A relative is defined as a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (full or half blood or civil partnership); or a step-parent;
Informal arrangements made with another member of the family (i.e. not defined as a "relative" above) or a friend

These arrangements can be made without the involvement of the local authority for not longer than 28 days;
Private Fostering (see also Private Fostering Procedure and Private Fostering Guidance. Additionally see Oxfordshire County Council website/Private fostering)

Private fostering is when the child is under 16 (or under 18 if disabled) and is cared for and provided with accommodation by someone other than a parent, person with Parental Responsibility, the local authority or a relative (as defined above), if this is intended to last for more than 28 days. In a private fostering arrangement, the parent still holds Parental Responsibility and agrees the arrangement with the private foster carer.

Oxfordshire has a statutory duty to visit, assess and support all children who are living in private fostering arrangements. Following assessment, a Child in Need Plan will be drawn up and a package of support will be identified. Social workers must visit at intervals of not less than 6 weeks in the first year and thereafter 3 monthly - for further details, see the Private Fostering Procedure;
Children covered by formal Family and Friends procedures

The following criteria should be used to decide which children come within the remit of these procedures:
- Where there is a risk/request/possibility of a child being Accommodated under Section 20 (Children Act 1989);
- Children who are in or on the threshold of Care Proceedings;
- Planning for children with a disability;
- Where rehabilitation to the child's extended family network is being planned for children who are already Looked After;
- To support a Looked After child in formal Family and Friends Care to achieve permanence through the making of a Residence Order/Special Guardianship Order/Adoption Order to their relative/friend carer.
Children in Friends and Family Care who become Looked After

Most issues that Friends and Family carers have to deal with in fulfilling their parental role can be addressed through means other than the local authority acquiring Parental Responsibility or the child becoming Looked After.

Where appropriate, the preferred option would be to support the Family and Friends carer to obtain a Residence, Special Guardianship or Adoption Order (see 5 below) for the child, with the option of other court orders if additional support is required.

However, in exceptional circumstances, a Care Order may be necessary to protect the child and/or assist a "Connected Person" to undertake their role as the child's primary carer, for example, if there is a serious risk that the child's placement may be disrupted by a parent. A "Connected Person" is someone who comes from the wider family and friends network and can also include someone with a professional relationship with the child, such as a childminder, teacher or a youth worker.

If a child has to be Accommodated or becomes the subject of an Emergency Protection Order, the way forward will depend upon how much is known about the child and family and whether a Connected Person has already been identified against this eventuality. A referral for Family Group Conferencing should always be considered for children who become Looked After in an emergency.

All assessments should be signed off by the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) for Fostering to ensure there is adequate information to allow the safe placement of a child. If the ADM is unavailable then the relevant Area Service Manager must authorise these and send them to the ADM for endorsement as soon as possible.

Where the child becomes Looked After, it is important to ensure that the Connected Person is aware that this is seen as a temporary measure and that every step is taken to help the child acquire full permanence as soon as possible. For further details, see Placement with Connected Persons Procedure;
Family and Friends Foster Carers

If foster care is seen as the only option to attain full permanence, we have a responsibility wherever possible to make arrangements for the child to live with a Connected Person.

The child can be placed with the Connected Person prior to full Fostering Panel approval, subject to an assessment of the placement, for up to 16 weeks (see 4e). This temporary approval can only be extended in exceptional circumstances. The process of obtaining approval for the placement is set out in the Placement with Connected Persons Procedure. Where temporary approval is given to such a placement under the procedure, the carers will receive financial support on a regular basis.

A Friends and Family Carer should not be approved as a foster carer for a child solely for the purposes of securing financial support. They will also only be approved as Friends and Family Foster Carers for the child if they meet the National Minimum Standards for Foster Care 2011.

5. Residence, Special Guardianship and Adoption Orders

5.1 Residence Orders

A Residence Order is a Court Order which gives Parental Responsibility to the person in whose favour it is made, usually lasting until the child is 18. Parental Responsibility is shared with the parents.

Relatives may apply for a Residence Order after caring for the child for one year.

Residence Orders may be made in private family proceedings in which the local authority is not necessarily a party nor involved in any way in the arrangements. However, a Residence Order in favour of a relative or foster carer (who was a Connected Person) with whom a child is living may be an appropriate outcome as part of a permanence plan for a Child in Need or a Looked After child.

The local authority may pay Residence Order Allowances to relatives or friends, unless they are a spouse or civil partner of a parent, with whom a child is living under a Residence Order. This is set out in paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989.

(See Residence Order Policy and Procedures for details of what financial assistance may be available to holders of Residence Orders, the applicable criteria and who within the local authority will make decisions under the policy.

5.2 Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs)

Special Guardianship offers a further option for children needing permanent care outside their birth family. It can offer greater security without absolute severance from the birth family (as in adoption). However, it should be noted that SGOs cease at 18 unlike Adoption.

Relatives or friends who were approved as foster carers may apply for a SGO after caring for the child for one year. (Otherwise the child has to have been living with the applicant for 3 out of the last 5 years.)

As Special Guardians, they will have Parental Responsibility for the child which, while it is still shared with the parents, can be exercised with greater autonomy on day-to-day matters than where there is a Residence Order.

SGOs may be made in private family proceedings and the local authority may not necessarily be a party to any such arrangements. However, an SGO in favour of a relative or foster carer (who was a Connected Person) with whom a child is living or placed may be an appropriate outcome as part of a permanence plan for a Child in Need or a Looked After child.

Where the child was Looked After immediately prior to the making of the SGO, the local authority has a responsibility to assess the support needs of the child, parents and Special Guardians, including the need for financial support, which can include section 24 support as a Qualifying Young Person under the Leaving Care Act - see leaving Care procedure.

(See also Applications for Special Guardianship Procedure, Section 14, Financial Support for details of what financial assistance may be available to holders of Special Guardianship Orders, the applicable criteria and who within the local authority will make decisions under the policy.)

5.3 Adoption Orders

Adoption is the process by which all parental rights and responsibilities for a child are permanently transferred to an adoptive parent by a court. As a result the child legally becomes part of the adoptive family.

An Adoption Order in favour of a relative or foster carer (who was a Connected Person) with whom a child is living may be an appropriate outcome as part of a permanence plan for a Child in Need or a Looked After child.

Local authorities must make arrangements, as part of their adoption service, for the provision of a range of adoption support services. They then have to undertake assessments of the need for adoption support services at the request of the adopted child, adoptive parents and their families, as well as birth relatives. The support required is then set out in an Adoption Support Plan and this may include financial support.

(See also Adoption Support Procedure, Section 8, Financial Support for details of what financial assistance may be available to holders of Adoption Orders, the applicable criteria and who within the local authority will make decisions under the policy.

6. Financial Support

6.1 Context

Oxfordshire supports the Family Rights Group's call for the introduction of a universal non-means tested benefit for all Family and Friends Carers (similar to child benefit), provided independently of local authorities through the Benefits Agency. In our opinion, this would be a far better means of supporting Friends and Family Carers. In the interim, for those children and their carers who meet the eligibility criteria, the level of support will vary depending upon need and how they are supported.

These criteria are not designed to provide financial support for children in Friends and Family Care who have not required the local authority's involvement in establishing the living arrangement (i.e. categories 4a, b and c, see Section 4, Categories of Family and Friends Care). However, for children in these circumstances, some level of support is possible if the child is assessed as being a Child in Need (under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989). Such support would not usually be in the form of regular payments but the use of one-off payments to assist the family with obtaining specific items needed to care for the child (a bed, school clothes etc).

6.2 General principles

There are three categories of payment, which may be considered. One or more of these may be applicable, depending on the particular circumstances of the case:

Subsistence crisis (one-off) payments

These should be used to overcome a crisis, following the best assessment that can be achieved in the circumstances;
Setting-up

These are for such items as clothing, furniture, or bedding. The social worker must be satisfied that the carers' financial position justifies the payment through a financial assessment. Assistance may be given subject to conditions, including repayment in certain situations;
Weekly living contribution

It is possible for the local authority to make regular payments where family members or friends care for a child, whether or not the child is Looked After and the arrangement or placement has been established with the help of the local authority as an alternative to care. Where regular payments are to be made, Family and Friends Carers should be assisted to maximise their Income/Benefits since regular payments may adversely affect an individual's claim to income support.

In all cases where regular financial support is agreed, a written agreement will be drawn up detailing the level and duration of the financial support that is to be provided, and the mechanism for review.

6.3 Criteria

The purpose of the payments must be to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child;
As part of the assessment, a view should be taken as to whether the carers need financial support based on their reasonable requirements in taking on the care of the child;
There are no other legitimate sources of finance;
Payments will be paid to the carer, not the parents;
The payment would not place any person in a fraudulent position.

6.4 Related chapters in the procedures manual

Children Cared for by Relatives and Friends Outside the Looked After System Procedure

Assessing Family and Friends Options for Children Procedure

Guidance for Parents and Carers on Circumstances where the Local Authority will help with Legal Costs

Adoption Support Procedure

Applications for Special Guardianship Procedure

Residence Order Policy and Procedures

7. Practical Support

Findings from our Kinship Care review reinforces the messages from research in the area of Friends and Family Care by highlighting that, in addition to financial support, carers often value other types of support to assist them in their parental role. These include:

Information and advice on parenting issues;
Advocacy and support;
Visits to other children and their carers;
Developing support networks;
Help with contact for the child with their parents/siblings;
Help with housing issues.

Where social care staff are responsible for arranging placements, any support needs will be identified and carers will be advised about the range of support available to them. Details of support groups for family and friend carers may be found in Annex D: Dates of Kinship Support Meetings. Other family and friend carers may access support from a range of national and local organisations as listed in Annex C: National and Local Support Contacts.

In relation to housing issues, Oxfordshire is working with the Children's Trust/District Councils to try and secure practical resolutions for those kinship families living in social housing who need larger properties.

8. Supporting Contact with Parents

The local authority is under a duty to promote contact for all Children in Need, although this differs depending on whether or not the child is Looked After.

Where the child is not Looked After, we are required to promote contact between the child and his/her family 'where it is necessary to do so in order to safeguard and promote his or her welfare'. As part of the support arrangements, it may be identified that specific assistance is required to ensure that any such contact can be managed safely. The Family Information Centre (see Annex C) holds information about local contact centres and family mediation services, and how to make use of their services.

Where a child is Looked After, we are required to endeavour to promote contact between the child and his or her family 'unless it is not practicable or consistent with the child's welfare'. The overall objective of the contact arrangements will be included in the child's Care Plan and the specific arrangements will be set out in the child's Placement Plan - see Contact with Parents and Other relatives/Friends Procedure.

9. Complaints Procedure

Where a Family or Friends Carer is not satisfied with the level of support provided to enable them to care for the child, then they have access to the local authority's complaints process. Our aim would be to resolve any such dissatisfaction without the need for a formal investigation but where an informal resolution is not possible, a formal investigation will be instigated.

The timescales and process involved are set out in the Complaints Procedure.

Annex A: Caring for Somebody Else's Child - Options

Click here to view Options Table

Annex B: Research Evidence and Children's Views

Oxfordshire Friends and family carers have contributed to these findings through participation in these studies and in conferences and consultations, and their views are set out in the table at the end of this annex.

Research about the characteristics and effectiveness of family and friends care in the UK mainly focuses on the placement of looked after children with family and friends foster carers, including comparisons with children placed with unrelated foster carers. When interpreting the relevance of research studies, care must be taken to ensure an understanding of the differing terminology used, especially the definitions used for kinship and family and friends placements. This is especially true in relation to studies undertaken outside of the UK where different legal frameworks exist, making comparison with practice in England more difficult.
This annex provides an introduction to some of the key research findings relevant to the requirements of this statutory guidance, but for fuller information the studies themselves should be consulted. It is largely based on a research briefing Family and Friends Care published in 2008 by Research in Practice, which is available from the Department for Education website*. Other useful research overviews include the kinship care special issue of Adoption and Fostering** (2009), chapter 4 ("Going into kinship care") of Quality Matters in Children's Services: Messages from Research,*** and the Family Rights Group's Family and Friends Care: A guide to good practice for local authorities****
The Campbell Collaborative systematic review of kinship care analysed 62 research studies, 57 of which were undertaken in the USA although none in the UK.***** It highlights issues which will be found pertinent to family and friends carers in this country, providing notice is taken of the definitions set out on page 8 of the review.

* Department for Education website/Family and Friends Care briefing note

** Adoption and Fostering volume 33 number 3, Autumn 2009. British Association for Adoption and Fostering

*** Stein M (2009). Jessica Kingsley

**** Family Rights Group (2009)

***** Kinship Care for the Safety, Permanency, and Well-being of Children Removed from the Home for Maltreatment (2009) The Campbell Collaboration website

Profile of children and carers

Farmer and Moyers* studied looked after children placed with family and friends foster carers and with unrelated foster carers. They found the two groups of children to be remarkably similar in terms of their characteristics and the kinds of adversities they had experienced prior to placement, and had similar levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties. The parental difficulties that had led to the children being looked after were also very similar. However, the family and friends foster carers were significantly more disadvantaged than the unrelated foster carers, with 27% being lone carers, 31% having a disability or chronic illness, 35% living in overcrowded conditions, and 75% experiencing financial hardship.
Hunt, Waterhouse and Lutman,** in a study of children placed with family and friends foster carers through care proceedings, also found great similarities with children placed with unrelated foster carers.

* Farmer E and Moyers S (2008) Kinship Care: Fostering Effective Family and Friends Placements. Jessica Kingsley.

** Hunt, J., S. Waterhouse, et al. (2008). Keeping them in the family : outcomes for children placed in kinship care through care proceedings. London, British Association for Adoption & Fostering.

Attachment and placement stability

Security of attachment and continuity of care are recognised as important factors in children's long-term well-being, and the capacity of family and friends placements to deliver these is a strong theme in the research. Children are generally reported to feel secure, happy and integrated into the family, with most studies reporting that this is more common than for children placed with stranger carers. Much of the research also highlights the high levels of commitment demonstrated by carers, their strong bonds with the children, the pleasure they find in the children themselves and the satisfaction they derive from caring.
The emerging evidence on placement stability suggests a more complex picture than previously thought, when family and friends placements were considered to fare better than stranger care no matter how stability was measured. The weight of the evidence still supports that conclusion: placements last longer, and children have fewer moves both overall and before entering placement. It is the evidence on disruption which is now less clear-cut. Reported rates in UK research range from less than 10% to around a third, the rate most commonly found in the international literature. Few studies suggest rates are higher than for non-related foster care, and the perception was that they were lower. Recent UK studies, however, suggest that rates may be very similar.
Farmer and Moyers found that family and friends foster placements lasted on average 4 years 9 months compared to 3 years 11 months for placements with unrelated foster carers. They judged that family and friends carers sometimes persisted with children beyond the point at which unrelated carers gave up, and showed higher levels of commitment to the children. A higher proportion of stranger foster placements were intended only as short term placements from the outset, and the majority ended for positive reasons such as a return home or a planned move. Breakdown rates were almost identical for both types of placement (18% and 17%), which is much lower than Hunt et al's follow-up of children placed through care proceedings which reports a 28% disruption rate. Both studies, however, highlight the importance of behavioural difficulties in placement breakdown. Hunt et al took the view that some of the family and friends placements could have been sustained with better support.

Continuity of experience and the maintenance of relationships

Family and friends care is also likely to contribute to a children's sense of security and personal identity through minimising the degree of disruption they experience in other ways. Children usually go to people they know, with whom there is a shared culture, and are more likely to remain in the same neighbourhood and school. Although carer attitudes towards parents are not necessarily favourable and relationship difficulties are more common than in placements with unrelated carers, studies typically report that contact is more likely, though not necessarily with both parents and often involving complex arrangements without independent supervision.

Quality of care and child safety

There is little research focusing on child safety issues in family and friends placements, and that is contradictory as to whether rates are higher or lower than for unrelated foster placements. There is little evidence to support concern about the quality of care provided by family and friends carers in more than a minority of cases. Standards may be variable and lower than the average for unrelated foster carers, and carers may be more inclined to use physical punishment.
A US government investigation reported that in more than 90% of family and friends arrangements almost all parenting tasks were carried out adequately. In the UK Farmer and Moyers found that family and friends carers were more likely to have poor parenting skills and substantially more were struggling to cope, although 73% of placements were judged to be positive for the child, 14% adequate and only 10% detrimental. Hunt et al found that while few placements were entirely free of concerns about quality, only 20% raised major issues.

Child well-being

The evidence about child functioning, although quite limited and mixed, is broadly positive. On a range of measures - health, education, emotional and behavioural development - children appear to do about as well as those in unrelated foster care placements with some studies suggesting they may do better. In the UK, Farmer and Moyers' findings for children placed with family and friends carers were remarkably similar to those for children placed with unrelated carers, whilst Hunt et al reported most children in family and friends placements as doing reasonably well with 47% displaying no emotional and behavioural problems.
Based on a preponderance of the available evidence, the Campbell Collaborative review concluded that children living with family and friends carers appeared to experience better outcomes with regard to behaviour problems, adaptive behaviours, psychiatric disorders, well-being and placement stability than did children with unrelated foster care. Furthermore, there was no detectable difference between the groups on reunification, length of stay, family relations, or educational attainment. However, children being brought up by family and friends were less likely to be adopted or make use of mental health services.

Assessment of foster carers

In Farmer and Moyers' study most family and friends carers understood the need for assessment as foster carers, but a number felt that the approach adopted did not fit their circumstances very well, especially when they had been caring for the child for a considerable period. 65% of the carers were assessed when the child was already living with them which meant that whilst the child's progress and attachment could be assessed, it could be harder to deal with shortcomings or to withhold approval from an ongoing placement.
Doolan et al* found that carers resented the concentration on risk when their suitability to care for children was being assessed and wanted a sensitive, inclusive respectful process that valued their skills and knowledge. Hunt et al emphasise the need to focus on parenting capacity rather than specific concerns, which often fail to evidence themselves on follow up.

* Doolan P, Nixon P and Lawrence P (2004), Growing up in the care of relatives or friends: delivering best practice in family and friends care. Family Rights Group

Supporting family and friends placements

Family and friends carers have said that they are often uncertain as to what help is available and how to access it, reluctant to press their case, find the response variable and are frustrated by changes of worker. They also complain that social workers tend to under-estimate their needs; help may not be given sufficiently early or tail off too soon. Farmer and Moyers reported that significantly more family and friends carers had little or no social work support compared with unrelated foster carers, and that placements were significantly more likely to survive if the child had an allocated social worker. Hunt et al reported gaps in provision of support services even when the local authority was still involved, and that better provision could have prevented some placements from ending prematurely.
The help which family and friends carers reported they wanted includes financial and practical support, information and advice, opportunities to meet with other carers, access to universal and targeted services, help to the child, and help for the child's parents to get their lives together again.
Workers are likely to need help and training to fully understand the particular support needs of family and friends foster carers.

Local authority policies and structures

A consistent theme in research is that family and friends care is a distinctive form of care which requires its own policy and practice guidance, systems, structures and services tailored to the particular needs of these families and a transparent and fair system of remuneration. In a survey by Family Rights Group in 2007, 69% of local authorities responding did not have a written coherent approach to family and friends care.*

* Report on freedom of information survey of local authority policies on family and friends care conducted by Family Rights Group and University of Birmingham. Family Rights Group (2009)

Children's views on care by friends and families

Few children or young people want to become looked after by the local authority; most would prefer their birth parents to be supported to continue to care for them, or if that is not possible to be able to live with members of their extended family. Of young people consulted by the Children's Rights Director for England in response to Care Matters, 75% thought that families should be given a chance to suggest other ways of looking after children before they go into care.*
In 2009 focus groups were held for children and young people who either were looked after or had been so previously. Nearly half of the young people consulted felt that if possible a child should be placed to be looked after by someone from their own family, but many did not agree with the idea of special rules for making placements of looked after children with family members or family friends.** One stated "Just because they are family doesn't mean to say they are good at looking after us." One group was very clear that family members or friends should be "checked out" and fully approved as foster carers before a child was placed with them, rather than a placement being made with temporarily approved carers who are still being checked out. They said "An assessment should be done first in all cases before you move there by social services - even if the person's a 'connected person', you can't just assume they're safe." In contrast, a few children and young people thought that unless a placement was known to be unsafe, family members and family friends should not be checked at all. Some said how important it is for the child to have a say, especially when somebody they know is being considered. One said "They try and place you with families first but it is always relatives you don't like."
The advice of most children and young people in the focus groups was summed up as: ? "try families and friends, but assess first"; and ? "use the same judgment as when moving to live with another family member as social workers would when moving to a foster carers."
Children interviewed by Hunt et al in their research mainly considered themselves as close to their family and friends carers and reported " a sense of ordinariness" in the arrangements. Doolan et al reported children living with family and friends carers as being happy and well cared for, often relating this to their pre-existing relationship with the carers.

* Care Matters: Young people's responses, DfES 2007

** Planning, Placement and Review: A report of a children's consultation to the DCSF by the Children's Rights Director for England

Maximising the appropriate use of family and friends care

The research evidence, although not conclusive, is broadly supportive of family and friends care as a viable option and suggests scope for greater use. Farmer and Moyers found that 86% of the placements made with family and friends foster carers came about because relatives or friends offered to care for the children or were already doing so, whilst only 4% were initiated by the social worker. The Campbell Collaborative concluded that family and friends care can enhance the behavioural development, mental health functioning, and placement stability of children, but attention must be paid to increasing levels of support.

Feedback from Oxfordshire's Kinship/Family and Friends Carers
YOU SAID	WE DID
In relation to assessment Family and Friend carers said that they understood why the assessment had to take place and were generally happy with the process but wanted more understanding from those undertaking assessments about the particular difficulties facing Family/ Friend Carers	With your help we have provided training for staff on assessing Family and Friends care
Family/Friend carers said they would have like staff to provide information about practical help, including financial help	We have published information about practical and financial support for family/friend carers and given them membership of fostering network which includes access to legal advice and mediation
Family/Friend carers who have accessed training available to unrelated foster carers and adopters wanted this training to be offered to other carers	All foster carer training has been made available to Family and Friend carers
Carers asked for the opportunity to meet other Family and Friend carers	Family /Friend are members of OFCA and receive invitations to all foster carer events (e.g. foster carer picnic, consultations and focus groups). Support groups have been set up specifically for Family and Friends carers to meet each other
Carers have asked for specific training on behaviour management	Attach services offer specific help on behaviour management. We are piloting an evidenced based behaviour management programme "Keep" Family/Friend carers are encouraged to attend
Carers have asked for access to the psychology service	All Family/Friend carers have access to psychology and support services (NB Adopters and Special Guardians are the responsibility of the placing LA for the first three years after placement)
Carers have appreciated the help they receive from social work staff	Family/Friend carers receive ongoing support from social workers for the child)a supervising social worker and foster carer coordinators whilst the child is looked after and at a reduced level for at least one year after a legal order has been granted

Annex C: National and Local Support Contacts

Click here to view contact details

Annex D: Dates of Kinship Support Meetings

Click here to view Support Meeting information

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